THE signing of Jason McAteer signalled a change of emphasis in Tranmere's spending commitments, chairman Lorraine Rogers acknowledged last night.

THE signing of Jason McAteer signalled a change of emphasis in Tranmere's spending commitments, chairman Lorraine Rogers acknowledged last night.

The Wirral club that boasted the virtues of tight budgetary constraints as they endured the financial hardships of recent years has now loosened the purse strings to pay for the Republic of Ireland midfielder.

Rogers said: "We are investing more heavily in the first team and the whole football set-up than we might have first intended.

"But we would not do anything that puts the future of the club in jeopardy.

"We are not an extravagant club. We are a careful, prudent club. We are also very ambitious. We are investing heavily in the first team squad in the hope that we achieve real success."

The financial climate appears to have changed markedly at Prenton Park over the last two years. In July 2002 Tranmere announced they were looking for a new investor, admitting they were struggling to deal with the loss of promised revenue from broadcasting and internet deals.

A new owner failed to materialise but fears of a crisis were eased by the #2.25m sale of Jason Koumas to West Brom and last season's run to the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

Rogers said: "Last year turned out to be better than expected. There was real concern about our future 18 to 24 months ago, following the collapse of ITV digital.

"But attendances have been good, our commercial revenue has been good and we have had an unexpected and exceptional Cup run.

"We had earmarked some of that money for investment in the first team, some for investment in our youth set-up and some for repair to the ground, particularly the main stand.

"Obviously that emphasis has changed a little bit and we have invested heavily in the first team, player contracts and the whole set-up around the first team."

Rogers said the club was undertaking a "rolling programme" of essential repairs to the ground.

She added: "It's behind the scenes, quite boring stuff.

"We would like to do more, particularly with the main stand, when we have the resources to do it.

"But we felt the priority was to invest in the first team.

"Let's have some success on the pitch and hopefully we can bring in revenue from that."